US Senator Ted Cruz broke with high-ranking members of his party to denounce Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s threat to fine broadcasters or pull their licenses over the content of their shows as “dangerous.”
In comments on his podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz released on Friday, the Republican senator from Texas said that he believed that Carr’s threat would come back around for conservative media figures in the future.
He noted that he was “thrilled” that popular late-night TV show host Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air, but warned of the “mafioso” like implications of the threat.
“Let me tell you: If the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media, have said. We’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives.
“Going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again, wins the White House … they will silence us. They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous,” the senator said, as reported by CNN.
"He says, ‘We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.’ I got to say that's right out of 'Goodfellas'," Cruz said. "That's right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, 'Nice bar you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it.'"
The senator's remarks are a rare example of a prominent member of President Donald Trump's own party publicly criticizing the actions of the administration, highlighting deepening concerns over free-speech rights and Trump's threatened crackdowns.
“It might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel,” the senator said. “But when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it.”
Cruz later said that the Commerce Committee would potentially investigate Carr if he continues to make threats.
“There’s no doubt the Commerce Committee has oversight, authority, and responsibility over the FCC, and when the Democrats had the majority, they did not engage in oversight … We will do our job and engage in oversight.”
US President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he disagreed with Cruz, calling Carr "an incredible American patriot with courage."
On Thursday, Trump repeated an oft-stated contention that broadcasters critical of his administration perhaps should have their FCC-issued licenses revoked.
Asked to comment further on Friday, Trump said, "I'm a very strong person for free speech," but added that the broadcasters were so stacked against him he considered them to be an extension of the Democratic Party.
"See, I think that's really illegal, personally," Trump said of extensive criticism. "That's no longer free speech... That's just cheating, and they cheat."